O

n Wednesday, enthusiasts across Jakarta celebrated science while watching Venus transit the face of the Sun for the last time until the next century.

On Wednesday, too, six East Jakarta men apparently celebrated a different practice based in ilmu hitam, or black magic.

The men, all members of a neighborhood watch group in Bidara Cina subdistrict in Jatinegara, East Jakarta, reportedly doused their hands with acid to test their physical immunity.

One is dead. Five are hospitalized.

Sudirman, 46, died a few hours later at Budi Asih Hospital in East Jakarta. Four victims remain at the same hospital for treatment: Mat Sani, 48; Sugeng, 37; Djoko, 41; and Mamat Syahroni, 57.

The sixth man, Agus Salim, 40, was transferred to St. Carolus Hospital in Central Jakarta, at the request of his family.

The survivors all reportedly have severe burns on their hands.

East Jakarta Police criminal investigations unit chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Dian Perri said on Thursday that no suspects had been named in the case, which was still in the early stages of investigation.

“We have questioned two witnesses in the case, both of whom are family members of the victims,” Dian told The Jakarta Post. “We have yet to question the victims, as they are still hospitalized.”

Dian said that detectives suspected that the men poured the acid on their hands as part of a ritual connected to ilmu hitam.

Sarpono, a senior member of the Bidara Cina neighborhood watch group, said that physical immunity tests were often part of the group’s initiation program for new members.

“If one has a pure heart, no harm will happen. However, if your heart is impure, then these things happen,” Sarpono said.

“That is why we set physical immunity as a requirement for new members, as only those with a pure heart will gain knowledge.”

Sarpono declined to comment on whether the knowledge gained was connected to ilmu hitam.

According to Sarpono, the neighborhood watch members had doused their hands in acid numerous times over several years without incident.

The incident on Wednesday was a first, he said.

In many parts of Indonesia, traditional beliefs in mysticism exist side by side with science and religion. There have been several similar incidents in recent months.

In February, for example, two pencak silat enthusiasts from Cilincing, North Jakarta — brothers Slalindar Andri Wibowo, 24, and Dedi Supriyadi, 26 — died after they were doused with acid to test their invulnerability to weapon
attacks.

The brothers had went to Serang, Banten, a few days prior to their deaths to look for a master who could teach them.

Banten is famous for traditional performances, called debus, in which performers demonstrate their invulnerability to a host of challenges, including edged-weapon attacks, fire and even shards of glass.

Several days after the brothers died, in an unrelated incident, two men died and one was left in critical condition in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara.

The trio had allowed a four-wheel vehicle carrying dozens of passengers to roll over their bodies in a similar test of invulnerability.

Remarkably, the men reportedly imbibed rat poison shortly beforehand and survived.

Before allowing the car to run over their bodies, the men also let several motorcyclists drive over their bodies, without effect.

University of Indonesia sociologist Otho Hernowo Hadi cited the public’s eroding confidence in law enforcement institutions as a possible reason behind the incident on Wednesday.

“It is possible that the frightening crimes that have been happening in Jakarta, coupled with poor law enforcement, drove those guys to desperation and forced them to seek other alternatives of securing their own neighborhood,” Otho told the Post.

“When a search is based only on emotional decisions and not logic, accidents like these happen.”